Cartels : $b challenge to a free world

Plastics, television, new chemical and electrical techniques are but a few of the instruments which will furnish the stuff for the pioneers of a new age. The challenge of housing will excite bold minds to action, on a scale never before attempted, to wipe out slums and give dwellers in country and city alike a new and higher standard of living. Not only at home, but also abroad, the opportunities for daring enterprise which will be offered by the needs of world reconstruction will surpass anything ever before known. How are we going to meet this challenge? At the outset, we must face frankly the greatest obstacle to making the most of our opportunity. It is the threat of cartel control of major world industries. Unless this threat is understood and dealt with decisively, our opportunity to realize the great potential benefits of a free economy will be lost. And worse still, the hope of maintaining democratic political institutions will be seriously impaired. The pattern of cartel operations has been clearly revealed in recent years by antitrust investigations. From public records in antitrust proceedings and congressional hearings, information about cartel operations is now available. The public should be familiar with the facts. As head of the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice, I have frequently been called upon to discuss cartel problems before congressional committees, trade associations and civic groups. Since my testimony and speeches received varying degrees of public notice at the time they were given, the casual reader of newspaper reports necessarily obtained only an impressionistic picture of the far-flung ramifications of the subject. Something more is needed for thorough understanding. With this thought in mind, a number of friends and associates have suggested from time to time that my material should be woven together in book form. This I have undertaken to do in the present volume. Merely to make assertions about the evil effect of cartels is a simple matter. But I believe that the real usefulness of this book will depend upon its fairly detailed explanation of the operation of particular cartels, with direct quotations from letters, memoranda and other documents. While I have not tried to compile a complete source-book, I have striven to make this discussion as non-technical as possible. The factual material is drawn largely from the documents of the Kilgore, Truman and Bone Senate Committees, and from the public records…